JOINT PROMOTIONS

It is true that no man is an island. It is also true that no company is an island. And even if both were, they need to be in good books with both the land they are on and the waters around them-lol. Narrowing it down to humans, the point is that none of us as individuals or organisations can stand by ourselves without the collaboration and participation of other players. Narrowed down further to joint promotions, we will discuss how joint promotions are planned using the acronym COMPETE.

Here goes...

• C – Co-sponsors. Decide right from the start who it is you will partner with in the joint promotion. It is obvious that it will not be companies in direct competition such as MTN and ZAIN under one program. It is possible that those identified and approached before the promotion can withdraw the way whilst others may want to join. The former is straight forward to deal with. However, there is need for greater care with the latter. Simply because one wants to be join should not mean admittance. There must be clear and comprehensive criteria to be met for organisations seeking to partner in a joint promotion.

• O – Objectives. Every player in a joint promotion has their individual objectives. Whilst these may be different, they may be fundamentally the same – focusing on sales, product trials and so on. It is therefore important that you equally determine it right from the start what it is you would like to achieve at the end of the promotion. As you know by now, objectives must be SMART, an acronym standing for specific, measurability, attainability, realistic and time-bound respectively. You can read more about objectives at your own time.

• M – Mechanism. It must be decided how participants will enter and take part in the joint promotion. It could be through SMS which is very common today, considering the advancement in technology which simplifies the process and reduces the possibility of errors. Other mechanisms usually used include coupons placed in a box or other type of container from which a draw will be conducted.

Different mechanism can be used individually or collectively taking into account the point that each must be appropriate and convenient to the target audience and indeed the participating organisations.

• P – Prizes. Each player in a joint promotion usually has specific responsibilities some of which relate to purchase of media space and/or giving prizes. MTN may be responsible for all cell-phone prizes whilst British Airways may have the responsibility of providing air tickets. It is very important to decide right from the beginning who will do what to avoid unnecessary conflicts between the players in a joint promotion. It is advised that obligations be put in writing.

• E – Expenditure. Part of planning involves the prudent use of resources, be they human, physical or financial. Under expenditure, all these must be provided for through finance-it is the availability of money that is going to determine the availability of manpower and furniture/infrastructure. It must be clear and well determined how much will be spent and on what. In addition, it may be necessary to have a team accountant if none of the team members is well vested in the management of financial books.

• T – Time. No promotion runs for ever. It is very common that after a promotion such as ZAIN’s 2010, there is some moment of silence as the final touches are made on the next promotion. Or it may not be actual total silence as the focus of communication messages would be on other objects of an organisations successful performance.

Under this point it is important to determine when what will be done. If the promotion running, for example, is for a period of six (6) months, it must be how often period draws will be held. A schedule is therefore necessary.

• E – Evaluation. This is the last step and of equal importance. Now that it has all come to an end, some of the questions to be asked are: were the pre-determined objectives achieved? Did each player do their part? What was done well and successfully? How was it done? What was poorly done and why?

These are vey important questions that need answers.

Evaluation, in this context, must be done internally and externally with the respective players. It provides an opportunity for the organisation to review and evaluate its strengths and identifying exactly where to do even better. Evaluation can also enable the organisation identify its weaknesses.

Joint promotions are very common now than in the past. Currently, ZAIN has one running in which it has partnered with other organisations such as Zambezi Airlines.

COMPETE.